FOR PLANNING PURPOSES, the park landscape has been divided into 11 fire management units (FMUs) based on geography, fuels management and habitat enhancement needs, and on values at risk. Ten of these FMUs are units that may be subject to fire management actions (prescribed burning or mechanical fuel reduction treatments). The eleventh FMU--the Minimum Management Unit--includes large areas of the park that would only be subject to vegetation clearing around buildings and along roads, and full suppression of all fires.

These FMUs were developed using Marin County's Fire Plan: A Wildland Fire Risk Assessment Model (MCF, 2000) and fire professional expertise. Many FMUs such as Inverness Ridge, Wilderness North, Wilderness South, Bolinas Ridge, Highway 1, Limantour, and Palomarin are strategically located to primarily treat the highest ranking fuels (secondarily, there are resource enhancement benefits). In the event of a wildland fire, these treated areas would provide a tactical advantage to firefighters. Their treatment with defensible space, fire road clearing for emergency evacuation, and wildland urban interface programs provide a systematic effort to protect life and property. Other FMUs such as Tomales Point, Estero, and Headlands have been established primarily for resource management reasons.